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Astrophysics

Title:X-raying the super star clusters in the Galactic center

Abstract: The Galactic center harbors some of the most massive star clusters known in
the Galaxy: the Arches and the Quintuplet. Based on the Chandra observations of
these clusters (PI: Wang) which recently became public, I discuss the X-ray
emission from the massive stars in these clusters. Confirming the general trend
for Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars being X-ray dim, none of them is detected in the
Quintuplet cluster. The most massive star known in the Galaxy, the Pistol star,
is also not detected, invoking questions regarding the proposed binary nature
of this object. X-ray emission in the Arches cluster is dominated by three
stellar point sources. All three sources as well as the cluster's diffuse
radiation show strong emission at 6.4-6.7 keV, indicating the presence of
fluorescenting cool material. The Arches point sources may be identified as
colliding wind binaries, albeit other possibilities cannot be ruled out.